Method for making slideless fastener

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed for making a slideless or slide-free fastener. The steps include forming first and second rows of cuts in a tape or band made of resilient material, the cuts being preferably arcuate or semi-circular in shape, though not limited thereto, the cuts in each row being spaced a predetermined distance apart, the cuts in one row being paired in reverse with respect to those in the other, rows of tongues being formed by bending up the cut-out portion of the band or tape then heatsetting the same, forming a third row of cuts between said first and second rows, the cuts in said third row being a straight line but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair of cuts in said first and second rows to form a series of openings. The openings in the tape or band-like fastening element so produced can be closed by a spiral fastening element made by sewing a resilient monofilament formed into a spiral onto a band or tape. The slideless or slide-free fastener produced by the foregoing method is joinable with sheet material and is also disclosed.

United States Patent [191 Takagi June 3, 1975 4] METHOD FOR MAKINGSLIDELESS 1 FASTENER [75] Inventor: Toshiaki Takagi, Osaka, Japan [73]Assignee: Yoshiaki Takagi, Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: July 13, 1973 21Appl. No.: 378,897

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data I July 27, 1972 Japan 47-76148[52] US. Cl. 264/156; 264/249; 264/295; 264/345, 29/428; 24/205.l2;24/205.13 R [51] Int. Cl... A44b 19/42; B29c 17/02; B29c 17/14 [58]Field of Search 264/154, 295, 291, 345, 264/249; 24/205.l3 R, 205.12,205.13 D, 205.13 C

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,629,911 3/1953 Macy24/205.13 R 3,462,805 8/1969 Quisling 24/205.12

Primary Examiner-D0nald J Arnold Assistant ExaminerWillard E. HoagAttorney, Agent, or FirmWenderoth, Lind & Ponack [5 7] ABSTRACT A methodis disclosed for making a slideless or slidefree fastener. The stepsinclude forming first and second rows of cuts in a tape or band made ofresilient material, the cuts being preferably arcuate or semicircular inshape, though not limited thereto, the cuts in each row being spaced apredetermined distance apart, the cuts in one row being paired inreverse with respect to those in the other, rows of tongues being formedby bending up the cut-out portion of the band or tape then heat-settingthe same, forming a third row of cuts between said first and secondrows, the cuts in said third row being a straight line but at such anangle as to join. the closest ends of each pair of cuts in said firstand second rows to form a series of openings. The openings in the tapeor band-like fastening element so produced can be closed by a spiralfastening element made by sewing a resilient monofilament formed into aspiral onto a band or tape. The slideless or slide-free fastenerproduced by the foregoing method is joinable with sheet material and isalso disclosed.

2 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures 1 METHOD FOR MAKING SLIDELESS FASTENERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a methodfor making fastener elements and a fastener coupling these elements, andin particular, to a method for making slideless or slide-free fastenerelements by a simple and rapid process and a slideless fastener productto be used without requiring assembling or any of the operationsrequired in using the conventional slider unit.

In general, it is known that the conventional slide fastener includes aplurality of identical elements along the opposing edges of two stripsto be joined and a slider to slidably engage or disengage each of theelements so as to open and close the fastener.

Fasteners of this slider or zip type have many disadvantages. Forexample, the process for making them is complex, the fastener itself isrelatively heavy in weight, the fastener often becomes entirely unusablewhen one or more elements on one strip comes off the fibrous tape, itwears out quickly and grows bulky along the place where the slider unitis mounted. The above mentioned disadvantages of the known typesincluding zip fasteners and tapeless slide fasteners result mainly fromthe necessity of assembling or incorporating a slider with eachfastener.

The main purpose of the present invention is therefore to provide amethod for making slideless fastener elements and a novel and aneconomical slideless fastener produced thereby which is free from theabove mentioned drawbacks. Said method makes it possible to mass producevery rapidly and accurately slideless fastener elements which areinstantly and easily engaged and disengaged, even if part of one elementin the opposite fastening element is loose or is damaged or mismeshed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates toa methodof making a slideless fastener and the product made thereby, includingthe steps of manufacturing a tape or band-like fastening element to beengaged with each other and a spiral or coiled fastening element. Thefirst step in producing a tape or band-like fastening element includesmaking rows of at least first and second cuts on a resilient tape orstrip material like plastic film. The cuts are substantiallysemi-circular or arcuate and are spaced longitudinally at predeterminedintervals. The cuts in one row are paired and oriented in the reversedirection with respect to those in the other. The second step in makingthe tape-like fastening element includes forming a series of tongues onone side of the tape material by bending the cut-out portion of the tapeup or down and then heat-setting the same.

The third step includes cutting or forming a third row of cuts betweenthe first and second rows, the cuts in said third row being a straightline but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair ofcuts in said first and second rows to form a row of openings. Thus, theopenings in the tape-like fastening elements are engageable with aspiral fastening element, which will be described later.

The fourth steps includes making a spiral fastening element to be meshedwith the tape-like fastening element by sewing a resilient monofilamentspirally onto a fibrous tape longitudinally thereof.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod for making slideless fastener ele ments including the steps ofmaking the tape-like fastening element and the spiral fastening elementseparately, and then engaging them with each other and heat settingthem.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method formaking a slideless fastener which does not require any step ofassembling and incorporating any kind of slider unit onto the fastenerelements.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a fastenerwhich is easily engaged and disengaged without employing any kind ofconventional slider unit.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodfor manufacturing slideless fasteners which may be easily automated thusreducing manpower requirements.

Other and additional advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partlyfragmented, of the fastener produced according to the present inventionsecured to a cloth.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the fastener shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively front and back views of the slidelessfastener elements made by the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial front view of the spiral fastening element in theprocess of being made.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the spiral fastening element shownin FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the spiral fastening element sewn onto afibrous tape or strip.

FIGS. 8 13 illustrate diagrammatically and in perspective andcross-section the steps in the process for making the tape-likefastening element according to the present invention.

In FIG. 8, is illustrated the punched unbent strip. In FIG. 9, flapshave been bent out of the plane of the strip. FIGS. 10 and 13 show thestrip with bent-up flaps and with slits between adjoining apertures inthe strip before the opposite edges of the strip have been shifted. FIG.11(a) and 11 (b) show the strip after the shift. FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b)show the strip after the sift and after the edges have been bent out ofthe original plane.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and8, a tape-like fastening element indicated in general by the indexsymbol A and a spiral or coiled fastening element indicated in generalby the index symbol B, both made according to the disclosure of thepresent invention, are shown. As shown, tape-like fastening element A ismade of a resilient, half-rigid plastic or synthetic resin tapedesignated by the number 1. The elongated resilient tape element isprovided, as is best shown in FIG. 8, with pairs of oppositely arrangedsemi-circular cuts 2 and 3 spaced longitudinally in a predeterminedspaced relationship on the tape by cutting with a roller type cutter. Itis noted that these cuts may be in shapes other than semi-circular.

The rows of tongues 4 and 5 are formed by bending the cut-out portions 2and 3 of the tape 1 up or down, and the portion between the closest endsof each pair of cuts in said rows of cuts 2 and 3 is provided withanother cut 6 to provide a substantially S-shaped cut therein. In otherwords, the cuts in the row of cuts between rows 2 and 3 are each a shortstraight line but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of eachpair of cuts in cuts 2 and 3 to form a series of openings 7 forreceiving a companion element, said openings being shaped like anelongated S. Accordingly, the tape-like fastening element made by meansof the present invention includes a resilient tape in which engagingopenings 7 are spaced in a predetermined relationship therein.

The initial step in making fastening element A is to make rows of pairedcuts on the tape 1 as shown in FIG. 8 using a roller type cutter withcutting edges mounted on the periphery of the roller. The tongues 4 andextending from each pair of cuts 2 and 3 are formed by bending thesemi-circular cut-out portion upward or downward so that the bent outtongues 4 and 5 are at a slight angle to the longitudinal direction ofthe tape 1. For bending, a toothed roller may be used which can besecurely contact and press the portion between the tongues 4 and 5, asshown in FIG. 9. Then, the cuts in the third row of cuts, the rowbetween the first and second rows of cuts, are formed in a straight linebut at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair of cuts onthe tape by using a similar roller type cutter, again as seen in FIG.10.

Next, the tongues on the tape 1 are thermally set by passing the tapethrough a heater the temperature of which is high enough to heat set thetongues to prevent them from returning to their original state, but notso high as to thermally degrade the resin.

As is best shown in FIG. 10, the short cuts 6 between the closest endsof each pair of the cuts 2 and 3 are formed to interconnect the cuts 2and 3 with each other. To form or cut the cuts 6 a roller type cuttingdevice on which is mounted a series of cutting edges may be used. Afterthe tape 1 is formed as shown in FIG. 10, the tape 1 having theinterconnected rows of cuts has the opposite edges longitudinally pulledin opposite directions, a shown by the arrow, by passing the tonguesthrough the gap between the two rollers g which exert a lateral force onthe tongues 4 and 5 to twist the tongues so as to reduce the anglebetween the tongues 4 and 5 with respect to the longitudinal axis (FIGS.11a and 11b). This distorts the edges of tape 8 lying along cuts 6 intothe openings left by tongues 4 and 5.

The remaining flat-side portions of the tape are turned upwardly andpressed inwardly along the rows of tongues 4 and 5 by passing the tapethrough the gap between two rollers g, which also presses the tonguesinwardly, as shown in FIGS. 12a and 12b. In this case, the pressureimposed on the tongues 4 and 5 and the remaining flat-side portionsurges simultaneously each row of the tongues and the intermediateportion between the tongures 4 and 5 to raise slightly upwardly.

As is best shown in FIG. 13, when the tape 1 has come out of the gapbetween the rollers, the flat-side portions of the tape, which isresilient, can shift longitudinally and spread open laterally inopposite directions, as shown by the arrows, to their substantiallyoriginal state so as to open the cuts 6 between the openings left by thebending up of tongues 4 and 5, due to the resiliency of the tapematerial.

As the result, the paired cuts 2 and 3 and transverse cuts 6 thereacrossare opened completely to form the openings or holes 7 in a row as shownin FIG. 13 with a longitudinal bending between the tongues 4 and 5 and aslight bend across transversely adjacent tongues of the tape-likefastening element A.

Finally, the resulting tape-like fastening element is thermally set,with the openings 7 securing or receiving the companion spiral elementso as to engage them.

In practicing the present invention, it is desirable to use a resilientmonofilament of half-rigid synthetic resin as the companion fastenerelement of the tapelike fastening element A, especially in the form of asingle spiral element B which can easily be produced employing theprocess as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The device for a similar process hasbeen disclosed in Japanese Pat. Publication No. 40933/1970. In suchprocess, the two filaments 9 of circular section are wound on a bar 10of a larger section, each filament turn by turn and then each of theresulting coiled filaments 9 is subjected to twisting by turningclockwise. The resulting filaments twisted as above are then thermallyset to form a coiled element respectively and further the bar 10 will beremoved so as to separate the two spiral elements B. As shown in FIG. 4,the companion element B made by the above process has a less inclined orflat portion along its pitch so as to give the slightly ellipticallyengaging member 11 having a cross-section deformed for engaging with theassociated opening 7 of the tape-like fastening element A.

Again as seen in FIG. 1, said tape-like fastening element A is sewn ontothe tape 12 so as to be secured along both side portions near theengaging openings 7 with appropriately spaced stitches 13 enabling thetape 12 to cover the curved face of tape 1 over the tongues 4 and 5 bothof which are assumed to be protruding through the back of the element A.

Similarly, the element B is similarly secured onto the tape 14 havingthe portion 15 of substantially the same width of weft while it may beunnecessary to integrate warp at all.

The portion 11 of the companion element B in use is secured on theportion 15 of cloth and the like without substantial inclination so thatas shown in FIG. 7 the tape 14 extends in front of the bend even if theneedle 16 is likely to pierce the tape 14 in sewing enabling the widthof the weft portion 15 to be narrow such that the spiral element B isfixed on the tape 14 without coming out.

It should be noted that the above fastener elements are preferablythermally set with the openings 7 in the element A receiving theengaging portion 11 of the element B in the position occupied when theelement A secured on the tape 12 is overlapping the companion element Bfixed on the tape 14. Thus, if the element B separates from the elementA after heat-setting, the receiving openings 7 and the engaging portion11 tend to mesh more snugly and orderly than in a conventional fastener.

In the fastener made by the present invention the elements A and Breadily engage and disengage without a conventional slider unit. Bypressing the element A onto the element B or vice versa said twoelements are easily engaged while by pulling an appropriate part ofeither of the engaged elements, they are easily disengaged.

Thus, for example, if the element A is laid under the element B, theyare engageable with one touch by pressing them against even a softportion of the human body with the hand or finger (fingers); that is theelements A and B will be bent to open the opening or holes 7 therebyenabling the tongues 4 and 5 to engage with the engaging portion 11 ofthe spiral element B. If the pressure on the position of engagement ofelements A and B is released, tongues 4 and 5, which are slightlydeformed while under the pressure, return to their original protrudingstate and engage with the engaging portions 11 of element B.

The method and product in the disclosure of the present invention may beembodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit orcentral characteristics thereof. The above described embodiments aretherefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appendedclaims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes whichcome within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims aretherefore to be embraced therein.

1 claim:

1. In a method for making a slideless fastener which includes atape-like fastening element adapted to be mounted on one part to befastened and cooperable with a spiral fastening element adapted to bemounted on the other part to be fastened, the steps of making saidtape-like fastening element comprising:

forming first and second rows of cuts longitudinally arranged atpredetermined intervals along a resilient tape of thermally settablematerial, the cuts in each row being substantially semi-circular inshape and the cuts in one row being paired with and oriented in thereverse direction with respect to those in the other;

forming a series of tongues on one face of said tape by bending thesemi-circular cut-out portions in said tape out of the plane of saidtape with the bent out portions lying at at least a slight angle to thelongitudinal direction of said tape;

forming a third row of cuts between said first and second row of cuts onthe tape with the cuts in the third row joining the cuts of the firstand second rows;

exerting a force on said tongues laterally of said tape to urge saidtongues to positions which are twisted away from their initial positionstoward positions more nearly parallel with the longitudinal direction ofsaid tape for distorting the edges of the tape material along said cutsof said third row of cuts into the corresponding openings left by thebending of the tongues out of the first and second rows of cuts, andthen folding the side edge portions of said tape against said tongues,and then releasing said lateral force, whereby the resiliency of thetape material causes said side edges to return to their originalposition and said tongues to twist at least partially back toward theiroriginal positions and leave openings between the edges of said cuts insaid third row for receiving the spires of the spiral fastening element;and

inserting the spires of the spiral fastening element into the thusformed openings and thermally setting said tape material.

2. The method of claim 1 including the step of heatsetting the rows ofsaid tongues prior to exerting the lateral force thereon.

1. In a method for making a slideless fastener which includes atape-like fastening element adapted to be mounted on one part to befastened and cooperable with a spiral fastening element adapted to bemounted on the other part to be fastened, the steps of making saidtape-like fastening element comprising: forming first and second rows ofcuts longitudinally arranged at predetermined intervals along aresilient tape of thermally settable material, the cuts in each rowbeing substantially semi-circular in shape and the cuts in one row beingpaired with and oriented in the reverse direction with respect to thosein the other; forming a series of tongues on one face of said tape bybending the semi-circular cut-out portions in said tape out of the planeof said tape with the bent out portions lying at at least a slight angleto the longitudinal direction of said tape; forming a third row of cutsbetween said first and second row of cuts on the tape with the cuts inthe third row joining the cuts of the first and second rows; exerting aforce on said tongues laterally of said tape to urge said tongues topositions which are twisted away from their initial positions towardpositions more nearly parallel with the longitudinal direction of saidtape for distorting the edges of the tape material along said cuts ofsaid third row of cuts into the corresponding openings left by thebending of the tongues out of the first and second rows of cuts, andthen folding the side edge portions of said tape against said tongues,and then releasing said lateral force, whereby the resiliency of thetape material causes said side edges to return to their originalposition and said tongues to twist at least partially back toward theiroriginal positions and leave openings between the edges of said cuts insaid third row for receiving the spires of the spiral fastening element;and inserting the spires of the spiral fastening element into the thusformed openings and thermally setting said tape material.
 1. In a methodfor making a slideless fastener which includes a tape-like fasteningelement adapted to be mounted on one part to be fastened and cooperablewith a spiral fastening element adapted to be mounted on the other partto be fastened, the steps of making said tape-like fastening elementcomprising: forming first and second rows of cuts longitudinallyarranged at predetermined intervals along a resilient tape of thermallysettable material, the cuts in each row being substantiallysemi-circular in shape and the cuts in one row being paired with andoriented in the reverse direction with respect to those in the other;forming a series of tongues on one face of said tape by bending thesemi-circular cut-out portions in said tape out of the plane of saidtape with the bent out portions lying at at least a slight angle to thelongitudinal direction of said tape; forming a third row of cuts betweensaid first and second row of cuts on the tape with the cuts in the thirdrow joining the cuts of the first and second rows; exerting a force onsaid tongues laterally of said tape to urge said tongues to positionswhich are twisted away from their initial positions toward positionsmore nearly parallel with the longitudinal direction of said tape fordistorting the edges of the tape material along said cuts of said thirdrow of cuts into the corresponding openings left by the bending of thetongues out of the first and second rows of cuts, and then folding theside edge portions of said tape against said tongues, and then releasingsaid lateral force, whereby the resiliency of the tape material causessaid side edges to return to their original position and said tongues totwist at least partially back toward their original positions and leaveopenings between the edges of said cuts in said third row for receivingthe spires of the spiral fastening element; and inserting the spires ofthe spiral fastening element into the thus formed openings and thermallysetting said tape material.